Friday, December 21, 2007

Cuisses de poulet braisees, avec des olives manzanilla

I like Food Magazines a lot. In fact, whenever one is around, I devour it. So why don't I subscribe to any, you ask? Simple--I'm a packrat. It's hard enough to remind myself to use ALL my cookbooks (notjustrepeatingrecipesfromafew), so to add magazines (a new one of which would arrive every month) is unthinkable. And don't suggest throwing the old ones out--what if there was a great recipe in there that I'm dying to try but don't get around to that month? Believe me, there would be one in every issue. So, instead, I content myself with my cookbooks and the internet.One wonderful part of using the internet to help decide what to make for dinner is that my favorite magazines have internet sites and their recipes are often published on Epicurious. One such magazine, Food & Wine, has a great search engine and is a constant source of inspiration. My favorite column, Chefs Recipes Made Easy, takes a restaurant chef's recipe and simplifies it for the home cook--perfect for those of us with high aspirations but limited time and resources.The recipe I'm sharing today, Braised Chicken Legs with Manzanilla Olives, is gently adapted from one in that column. I served it with a bowl of Cheese Avocado Soup to start, though the Chicken could just as easily be its own meal. And while it was delicious the night we had it, it was even better reheated a few days later. Enjoy!

Preheat oven to 350 F. Pour Olive Oil into large, oven-proof pot and heat over a medium-high flame until it slides around easily. Season Chicken with Salt and Pepper. Add three legs to pot (or as many as fit in one layer without overlapping) and cook 5 minutes, until browned. Flip onto uncooked side and repeat. Remove browned Chicken to a plate and repeat process with remaining legs, lowering the heat to medium if pot is well-insulated.Add Bacon, Onion and Carrots and raise heat again to medium-high and cook 2 minutes, stirring occasionally, until barely soft. Add Olives, Bay Leaf, Broth and Chicken Legs. Submerge legs as much as possible and bring mixture to a boil, raising heat to high. Cover pot and transfer to oven for 45 minutes, until Chicken is cooked through and Carrots are soft.Remove from oven and replace pot on stove, over high heat. Boil 5 minutes, to reduce liquid. Lower heat and cook another 5 minutes. Enjoy!